I took this photo on a visit to the White Oak Lavender Farm, which is a delightful place to visit. Travelers can clip lavender to take home, cuddle with a variety of adorable farm animals, participate in craft classes or simply relax with a tea party under the tent.

These picturesque llamas were photographed on a daytrip to Otavalo, Ecuador from the capital city of Quito. Our first stop was a geological park where visitors can stand on the actual equator with a phenomenal view of a snow-capped volcano and the surrounding pastoral landscape.

The second stop was the animal market which is a great place to visit, grab some salt-of-the-Earth photo ops and gain a sense of what life is like in this part of rural Ecuador. From there we hit the indigenous craft market which has been a center of trading for hundreds of years.

While there were other nearby shopping stops, including a village with custom-made leather goods, we opted for a more sedate afternoon of lunch and agritourism at Hacienda Pinsaqui, a centuries-old Spanish mansion that is now a restaurant and boutique hotel offering a serene countryside location, horseback riding and quiet reflection.